GE HealthCare has secured a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation worth more than $44 million, which the company will use to develop user-friendly, AI-powered ultrasound applications and tools.

The Chicago-based industry giant’s goal is to aid healthcare professionals, including those without specialized sonography training, to produce higher quality imaging exams. GE and the Gates are zeroing in on maternal and fetal care, along with pediatric lung health, in the hopes of bringing better access to “diverse sites of care.”

“Ultrasound is an essential tool for screening and diagnosis of various medical conditions, including the health of expectant mothers and managing respiratory diseases,” Roland Rott, president and CEO of ultrasound at GE HealthCare, said in a Sept. 18 announcement. “However, a key limitation is the guidance of lesser-skilled users to effectively apply affordable point-of-care ultrasound in their care environment.”

Artificial intelligence firm Caption Health—acquired by GE earlier this year—will design the technology to be used across a range of ultrasound devices and probes. Rott and colleagues highlighted the critical state of maternal and child mortality across the globe, with nearly 800 women dying every day from preventable causes tied to pregnancy and childbirth in 2020. Pneumonia also is the leading cause of death for kids younger than 5, and point-of-care-ultrasound can serve as a key tool in addressing these cases, those involved noted.

Caption Health, which also previously earned a Gates Foundation grant in 2020 for lung-related AI, will work to develop multiple lung and obstetric ultrasound algorithms following the funding news.